How you can learn from the masters at VIEW Conference

If you’ve already seen the program for the VIEW Conference in Turin, Italy, which takes place 21-25 October, then you know there are some big, big name speakers attending. Directors like Brad Bird, Dean DeBlois, Jill Culton, Peter Ramsey, Conrad Vernon, Sergio Pablos and Eric Darnell and Composer Michael Giacchino.

But in addition to the planned insightful talks that each one of these speakers will deliver in Turin during the conference, there’s another kind of experience for attendees at VIEW – what I describe as the conference’s secret weapon: the masterclasses.

Some of the big-name speakers are doing both talks AND a masterclass. The masterclasses tend to be more intimate, practical-advice-filled sessions that go right to the heart of the tech and art of the VFX and animation industries.

Here’s a preview of just five of them:

1. Brad Bird – The Animator as Actor

I mean, imagine hearing from Brad Bird on anything really, but in this masterclass he is going to be giving particular insight on how an animator is really just an extension of the actor in an animated feature. Look out for lots of examples, of course, from Bird’s films, including Incredibles 2. It’s scheduled for 10.35am on Monday 21 October.

2. Peter Ramsey – Storytelling Masterclass

The co-director of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse will share what makes for great storytelling. One of the attractions of these masterclasses is going into the director process, something you don’t always get to hear about. And, the chance to ask questions directly to someone like Ramsey is a major thing at VIEW. The masterclass happens 12.10pm on Monday 21 October.

The masterclasses are filled with practical workshop-type sessions, like this extended one on Substance Designer from Nordeus lead game artist Nikola Damjanov. It takes place between 10.30am and 2.30pm on Sunday 20 October, which means it’s worth getting to Turin early.

4. Tom Wujec – The Digital Tango: Preparing for the Future of Work

How will automation change your industry, your company, and your job? That’s the central tenet of this masterclass from tech pioneer, writer and entrepreneur Tom Wujec. It’s great to see something a little different like this at a VFX/animation conference.

5. Trent Claus – Digital Makeup Effects in a Photoreal Environment

I am super-excited by this masterclass from Lola visual effects supervisor Trent Claus. Trent’s already scheduled to give a talk on digital de-ageing, but in this class at 6.30pm on Monday 21 October he’ll double-down on Lola’s digital make-up process, concentrating on Vision from the MCU. And Trent will be speaking in a lunchtime panel I’ll be hosting during the week, too!

You can register for VIEW here: https://www.viewconference.it/pages/registration, which is also where you can find out about the different kinds of tickets for VIEW that are available (there are all-access options plus tickets for individual masterclasses)